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Bella
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| Posted: Feb 07 2007 at 9:49pm | IP Logged
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Yes,we have a TV, and it is part of the cable,internet,and phone package.
I grew up without a TV when I was at my Dad's house, then would go crazy when back at my Mom's.
I do *heavily* supervise the viewing.Dd's current fav is "If These Walls Could Talk" on HGTV. Ds's fav is Curious George on PBS.My ds would go crazy if he couldn't watch "The Tour De France"and all of the major golf tourneys.
Christy 
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momwats8
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| Posted: Feb 07 2007 at 9:59pm | IP Logged
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We have the cable/internet package. I must say that I wish I were more diligent about their not watching. We have been cutting down as we have a pool now and the kids would much rather swim in the pool then watch the tv.
We all love to watch sports together as well as other family shows. My Dh also loves to watch movies.
I must say I admire all those that go without. I can admit I am a whimp  I love my tv at times.
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Mary- Wife to Mike and Mother to Austin(92), Mikey(95), R.J.(97), Benedict(98), Kolbe(00), Ignatius(02), Christian(03), Margaret(05),&4 angels in heaven
http://www.momwats8.blogspot.com
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St. Ann
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| Posted: Feb 08 2007 at 1:33am | IP Logged
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We have a small TV which we have on 1 - 2 hours in the evenings when the kids are in bed. It would definitely be better if I would retreat to my room and read and sleep. TV is such an easy distraction.
The girls may watch a DVD or a National Geographic type show on the weekend when it fits our schedule. I have used the TV as a babysitter this last year a few times...I leave it as a last resort, so that the girls don't start getting used to having it.
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Stephanie
Wife and mother to Hannah '96, Maria '99, Dorothea '01, Helena '03
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marihalojen
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| Posted: Feb 08 2007 at 9:00am | IP Logged
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We only have the laptop and so no channels or TV of that sort but do subscribe to NetFlix. We are sooo spoiled because of that! We tried to watch a movie in a hotel the other night and it dragged on FOREVER! All those commercials.
Besides, so much of TV is available online, I can now download Martha Stewart's complete show and watch it online if I so desired. All the news agencies stream video of the latest story, the Weather Channel has my video forecast up, sports highlights can be viewed over and over online. I usually choose not to watch these things though as I'd rather come here to 4Real and catch up with you!
My father pitched the TV into the basement when I was a kid, a year detox and then only movies made prior to Gone with the Wind. He considered that a watershed moment in movie history as it allowed a certain word to be said. As my sister and I got older it was relaxed bit by bit and now I think they have TV available.
My husband thinks about getting it again I know, we've had sat. in a house before. But he knows that he becomes a complete news junkie and honestly, with the state of the world today he'd probably just end up yelling at the screen all night. Much less stress to sit up in the cockpit and watch the sun sink into the ocean and have a conversation (<- That's becoming a lost art form, imo! Good conversation that is, not sunset watching!).
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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stacykay
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| Posted: Feb 08 2007 at 11:18am | IP Logged
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momwats8 wrote:
We have been cutting down as we have a pool now and the kids would much rather swim in the pool then watch the tv.........
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I had to check really quickly and see where you live, as I sit here, shivering by our large kitchen window!  BTW, swimming in a pool in the balmy sun sounds heavenly right now!
We do have a tv. No cable (it runs about $50 a month for "basic.") We may add it in another year or so, in a combo like some of you have, as our internet is now getting pricey.
Mostly, we watch videos. There is really not a whole lot on tv that we can watch. Some pbs or sporting events and not much more. A sad commentary on the media. I remember hearing on Catholic radio they were discussing the Oscars, I think last year. Anyhoo, the man who was being interviewed said it shows how much "Hollywood" really cares (or doesn't) about what the average American wants, when the biggest grossing and family-friendly movies don't get mentioned, and the family-aversive, poor-grossing, R  movies are the Oscar contenders. And that they (the R movies, or even pg-13's) outnumber the G's/PG's being produced.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 12:18am | IP Logged
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This is a timely question for me. Up until this year we had our original 20 inch TV on the main floor, and a 13 inch one in the basement for the kids to watch videos and dvds. And we were very happy with that.
Then a few months ago someone gave us a slightly larger TV for our family room. We thought we were really moving up in the world. THEN, last week, some friends from down the block were upgrading from an older model large screen TV to a huge projection one. My oldest dd was over playing with their dd while the dad was setting up the new TV. He turned to dd and asked her if we might be interested in having their old set. So we are now the grateful, but cautious, owners of a 44 inch wide TV, which sits in our basement rec room. The first time we set it up, we popped in a Little House on the Prairie dvd and there was Michael Landon, larger than life, right there in front of me! I must admit that the girls have been watching more of it than usual this past week. I'm assuming the novelty will wear off and hoping that it will be a social draw for keeping the kids and their friends close to home as they enter the teen years.
We have a very basic cable package that allows us to get the major networks and a few others, most of which we don't care a bit about. The only two valuable ones are EWTN and CSPAN. We honestly watch so little TV that I almost wouldn't miss it if we only used our TVs for movies. I say "almost" because dh and I are still rather addicted to 24. 
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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msclavel
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 5:37am | IP Logged
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Yes Irene, Jack Bauer is my husband's hero. In fact, we started watching the show 2 seasons in and he promptly got the past seasons from Netflix and watched them all.
We have two small TVs (one is nearly 10 years old) in the house and every now and then my husband hints of getting something around 40 inch, but there is a very stingy part of me that HATES the though of spending that much money on something I really want much less of in my life. We too only have a pretty basic cable package and Netflix.
I would love less TV in our life, something I really need to work on as I feel I don't quite have the hang of schooling with toddlers and little kids around, which is embarrassing since I've been doing this for so long.
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alicegunther
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 5:53am | IP Logged
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Theresa in MN wrote:
It's amazing how much more "young" her kids seem than mine. They listen to a lot of books on tape and music.
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This is truly an amazing observation, but I think it is so true. Not having a TV does keep the kids younger somehow--like children from another era.
We do have a tv, but this is good food for thought.
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Love, Alice
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Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 6:07am | IP Logged
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Yes we have a TV and a DVR...which is of so convenient and makes it easier to keep control of what is watched (no commericals - we just skip them).
My "school age" kids are generally allowed no TV during the week and absolutely no play station until the weekend and then it's a set amount and they're done.
We do let them watch Modern Marvels during the week if it's particularly interesting. Generally dh will just check the listings during the week and record anything he thinks looks good from Discovery or TLC and we watch it on the weekends. It's fun - I love those shows.
I let my little kids watch some PBS. Thomas is a favorite of my youngest two dc as is Bob the builder. They usually watch those two shows before lunch.
teachingmom wrote:
| I say "almost" because dh and I are still rather addicted to 24. |
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Us too Irene. Monday nights we have a standing date to watch it. Dh and the older boys started watching it one time when we were all down with colds and they got hooked (imagine calling around to all the local Blockbusters to see if they have the next disk and then hurrying to get there before they close...all while being sick!). Eventually they got me to watch it and well...you know the rest.
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
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MrsKey
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 8:19am | IP Logged
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Yup. We're slugs. We own televisions and we actually watch them. We tend to prefer watching DVDs of older tv shows (my daughter is becoming a fan of Mork & Mindy and Quantum Leap). But we all have favourite shows and sports that we watch.
I figure as long as the time spent reading and playing outweighs the time spent watching tv it is okay to watch it occasionally.
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Carole
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doris
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| Posted: Feb 09 2007 at 11:22am | IP Logged
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We have a tv, but it's detuned and we purposely don't buy a tv licence. So we use it just for videos. The dc watch about 30 mins of videos every other day. Very innocent little things like Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam etc.
It's funny, but when we're at someone's house who has tv, they really don't understand it. Eg at Christmas at Grandpa's they watched a bit; someone needed the loo and said, 'Can you pause it?'
Our 'no tv' thing goes back to when we were first married. I was very inspired by someone I met who said that she and her husband didn't have a tv. They preferred to spend the time talking. We made the same decision (plus, dh was still a student and we really couldn't afford a tv licence).
Dh and I do watch videos or dvds occasionally. Nowadays, when I watch tv i'm really shocked by how much it's deteriorated over the time I haven't watched it (12 years or so). What is regarded as acceptable family viewing in terms of themes, morals, language has nosedived.
However, lest my halo appear to be glowing too brightly, I now spend waaaay too much time on the internet...
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Home educating in London, UK with dd (2000) ds (2002), dd (2004), ds (2008) and dd (2011).
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teachingmom
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 8:20pm | IP Logged
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msclavel wrote:
| We have two small TVs (one is nearly 10 years old) in the house and every now and then my husband hints of getting something around 40 inch, but there is a very stingy part of me that HATES the though of spending that much money on something I really want much less of in my life. |
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I am completely with you, Maria. I realized the other day that we have never spent money on a TV in our family. Our first one came from a store credit for returned duplicate wedding gifts. The other ones we've owned have been given to us by people who no longer needed them.
doris wrote:
| It's funny, but when we're at someone's house who has tv, they really don't understand it. Eg at Christmas at Grandpa's they watched a bit; someone needed the loo and said, 'Can you pause it?' |
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We have had that exact situation occur here -- repeatedly! The children watch videos and dvds almost exclusively, so the few times each year when they watch something on television, they just don't get that it cannot be paused.
Another difficulty with TV at other people's homes is how they handle the commercials. We always mute commercials here and turn to another channel if something offensive comes up. At my parents house, the TV is just left playing during commercials. It's really difficult for me, especially due to the commercials that air during weekend sports.
And for you other 24 fans out there, don't forget that tomorrow is a special 2 hour one starting earlier. I have a standing Monday night commitment out of the house, so we have to tape 24 and watch it on Tuesdays most weeks. It helps me to develop patience.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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MicheleQ
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 8:41pm | IP Logged
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teachingmom wrote:
| We have had that exact situation occur here -- repeatedly! The children watch videos and dvds almost exclusively, so the few times each year when they watch something on television, they just don't get that it cannot be paused. |
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Oh but you see with a DVR it CAN be paused. And it spoils you because you think you should be able to pause everything and/or rewind it and see it again. Like the radio for instance. If I am listening to the news and miss something I automatically think "oh rewind that" but I can't! I'll bet you can do that with satellite radio though...MacBeth?
One of the best features is skipping commercials. We just start watching about 15 minutes late and then zip through all the commercials. It's great!
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| And for you other 24 fans out there, don't forget that tomorrow is a special 2 hour one starting earlier. I have a standing Monday night commitment out of the house, so we have to tape 24 and watch it on Tuesdays most weeks. It helps me to develop patience. |
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Oh you poor dear. Yes we know it's a 2 hr. show Monday but that means Prison Break (another favorite) isn't on.  Honestly I DON'T watch much TV...just Monday nights.
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Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
http://michelequigley.com
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Theresa
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| Posted: Feb 10 2007 at 9:43pm | IP Logged
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MicheleQ wrote:
Oh but you see with a DVR it CAN be paused. And it spoils you because you think you should be able to pause everything and/or rewind it and see it again. Like the radio for instance. If I am listening to the news and miss something I automatically think "oh rewind that" but I can't! I'll bet you can do that with satellite radio though...MacBeth?
One of the best features is skipping commercials. We just start watching about 15 minutes late and then zip through all the commercials. It's great!
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Michelle, that is so funny. I distinctly remember a day in the car when driving and I missed something the radio new announcer had said and I thought to myself oh well I'll just rewind it but then I realized I was in the car! I love DVR. I love being able to tape a show and watch it at my convience and then just skip through the commercials or to pause the live show if I get a phone call.
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Theresa
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Do you have a TV?
